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Jakob Lutz

Ph.d. Fellow

Subjects
Financial institutions ESG Sustainability Green transition Social responsibility Global goals

Primary research areas

Sustain­ability due di­li­gence in fin­ance
How in­sti­tu­tion­al in­vestors op­er­a­tion­al­ize risk-based hu­man rights and en­vir­on­ment­al due di­li­gence across pub­lic and private mar­kets, in­clud­ing del­eg­ated mod­els. Fo­cus on cas­cad­ing ex­pect­a­tions, min­im­um safe­guards, data lim­its, and lever­age pre/post-in­vest­ment to turn pro­ced­ures into out­comes.
Re­spons­ible & sus­tain­able in­vest­ing
Bring­ing BHR and SRI/CSR into dia­logue to ex­plain gaps between policy and prac­tice. Uses in­sti­tu­tion­al lo­gics, de­coup­ling, ac­count­ab­il­ity and fi­du­ciary duty to study how stew­ard­ship, man­dates and reg­u­la­tion shape what in­vestors ac­tu­ally do—and where gov­ernance re­forms could help.
Just & fair en­ergy trans­ition
So­cial and en­vir­on­ment­al im­pacts of the en­ergy trans­ition in re­new­ables and trans­ition min­er­als. Ex­am­ines con­sent, la­bour and be­ne­fit-shar­ing, and how col­lect­ive in­vestor ac­tion and act­ive own­er­ship can mit­ig­ate sys­tem­ic sup­ply-chain risks while align­ing re­turns with a just trans­ition.

Bridging re­spons­ible in­vest­ing and hu­man rights for a just trans­ition.

Turning investor responsibility into real world outcomes 

I study how institutional investors can make the green transition both fast and fair. My work focuses on risk based human rights and environmental due diligence in complex investment chains. I connect Business and Human Rights, Sustainable and Responsible Investment, and organization studies to explain why policies do not always lead to results and how to close that gap. 

My goal is to reduce harm linked to renewable energy projects and mineral supply chains. I examine how investors build and use leverage before and after investment, how minimum safeguards can be applied when data are limited and control is indirect, and when collective action among investors is needed to move from box ticking to real change. 

I work closely with practitioners through interviews, case studies, and document analysis across Danish pension funds, development finance institutions, and banks. 

Recent research projects

FRON­TI­ERS

“Fron­ti­ers of nat­ur­al re­source and sustain­ability gov­ernance for a just en­ergy trans­ition” is a five year Carls­berg fun­ded pro­ject led by Pro­fess­or Karin Buh­mann. We study min­ing on land and at sea, in­vestor lever­age, risk based due di­li­gence and Rights of Nature to en­able a just and fair en­ergy trans­ition.
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HU­MAC

At Private-sec­tor en­gage­ment in hu­man­it­ari­an ac­tion (HU­MAC) we study how com­pan­ies and hu­man­it­ari­an act­ors col­lab­or­ate in crises, identi­fy­ing ef­fect­ive, eth­ic­al, and sus­tain­able ways to or­gan­ize part­ner­ships that im­prove aid de­liv­ery. The pro­ject is fun­ded by the Velux Found­a­tion.
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Outside activities

Stu­den­ter­rådgivnin­gen , 2025 -

Stu­dent guid­ance